Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952

The Director General of Police suspended Circle Inspector K. Ratnagiri pending prosecution for the death of a detainee in police lock‑up. The Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal set aside the suspension, holding it invalid after six months and that the DGP lacked authority to suspend pending prosecution. On appeal, …

The case arises from the 2002 Gujarat riots following the Godhra train burning incident, in which the appellant's husband was killed in the Gulberg Society massacre. The appellant filed a complaint alleging a larger criminal conspiracy at the highest level of the state government, including the then Chief Minister, to …

Two sugar factories in North Mysore challenged the constitutional validity of Section 3(3C) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and a 1966 government notification that placed them in Zone 1 for sugar price fixation, alleging loss and denial of a notice‑hearing. The factories argued that the zoning violated their fun…

The State of Bihar constituted a Commission of Inquiry under Section 3 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 to investigate the 1989 Bhagalpur communal riots. The two‑member report of the Commission contained remarks that impugned the reputation of Lal Krishna Advani, who claimed he was not given notice under Section …

The case involves multiple appeals arising from a Delhi High Court judgment concerning the division of powers between the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) and the Lieutenant Governor (LG) under Article 239AA of the Constitution. The Supreme Court Constitution Bench had earlier interpreted Artic…

The State of Andhra Pradesh acquired land for a canal and housing projects, but courts enhanced the compensation awarded to landholders, leading to allegations of irregularities and a public outcry. The High Court stayed further payments and, after the State initiated investigations, appointed a Commission of Inquiry u…

The case arose from an incident on 18 November 1997 in Bhagalpur where police officers, not in uniform and armed with lathis, forcibly entered the courtroom and chambers of Additional District and Sessions Judge D.N. Barai, assaulting him, court staff and lawyers while demanding the unconditional release of an investig…

During a minister's visit to Kannur in 1994, police firing resulted in five deaths and many injuries, leading to two FIRs (Crimes 353/94 and 354/94). After a change of government, a Commission of Inquiry blamed the firing and the Director‑General of Police ordered a fresh FIR (Crime 268/97) three years later, initiatin…

A fire broke out on 10 April 2006 at the India Brand Consumer Show in Meerut, killing 65 people and injuring 161. The victims filed a writ petition under Article 32 seeking compensation from the event organizers (Mrinal Events and Expositions) and the State of Uttar Pradesh, alleging negligence and violation of the rig…

The Andhra Pradesh government, after a commission report, enacted the Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservation) Act, 2000, which divided the 59 castes listed under Article 341 into four groups and allocated separate reservation percentages to each. The petitioners challenged the Act on the ground…

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes issued an interim order directing Indian Overseas Bank to halt its promotion process pending investigation of complaints relating to reservation. The bank and the candidates filed a writ petition, and the Delhi High Court set aside the Commission’s order…

The case arises from the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984, by her security guards Beant Singh and Satwant Singh. The trial was held in Tihar Jail pursuant to a High Court notification. The Supreme Court considered whether the trial in jail violated the right to open public trial, whethe…